


The Clock Strikes Just

by smolonde



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Blood, F/F, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-01
Updated: 2015-10-01
Packaged: 2018-04-24 05:26:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4907173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smolonde/pseuds/smolonde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kanaya seeing Vriska's dead body after her death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Clock Strikes Just

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

Your fist smarts from the bones on her face, sharp and angular. You wonder if hitting her was the best course of action, but then it occurs to you that since she smashed your heart into a billion fragments and scattered them across the universe, you’re just fine with violence.

Your train of thought is interrupted by a tugging on your arm. “Kanaya, come on.”

Your friend is tugging on your arm, his toothless gums oozing mustard blood. Karkat had dashed to the roof in a hurry, yelling something about Gamzee going crazy. He shoved Sollux into your arms and now, you’re essentially dragging a blind kid in the direction where all your friends disappeared.

You climb the metal steps, guiding Sollux’s hand up the railing so he can find an easier rhythm. When you finally see the familiar dark sky of paradox space erupting around you, you push aside your thoughts of Vriska’s betrayal and step onto the roof.

Sollux seems to sense something wrong in the air before you’ve even taken in the scene, stiffening up on your arm. His breathing speeds, and you wonder if the voices are talking to him again. Then you remember that he can’t hear them anymore. You squint at him tentatively, looking for clues on his alert face, and then you smell it; an all-too-familiar smell in this game. A metallic, tangy odor that pulls on your nostrils and intoxicates you until you realize what it means.

You whip your head around, and you notice Karkat first. His back is to you, but his shoulders are slumped and his head is in his hands. Next to him stands Terezi, in the same position, but you realize that she’s shaking. The two of them are obscuring your view of something on the floor in front of them, and then, like a machine, Karkat turns his head to look at you. You’ve never seen such a look of defeat in his eyes before, not even when his computer blew up. That’s the moment you realize that something is seriously wrong. Terezi turns slowly to face you, and you’re shocked to see your normally manic, grinning friend in tears. Her cane, gripped tightly in her fist, is coated with something blue and sticky. Her body shakes, her mouth forming the words _no no no no_ over and over again. Then Karkat steps aside.

It takes you a few moments for your brain to piece everything together. An orange-clad, winged form collapsed on the floor, a cerulean stain spreading out of its back. Terezi, with the canesword, on the roof. The smell you noticed in the air earlier, and the red laptop lying nearby atop a heavy tome. What finally snaps you into reality is the black hair strewn in waves across the dark, horned head that lies face down on the ground.

You scream. It’s a primal sound, full of rage and shock more than anything, and you collapse to your knees, still screaming. When you finally stop, you take gasping breaths of air, too dry to do your sore throat any good. You crawl on your hands and knees towards the body, flipping Vriska over onto her stomach. Her face is paler than you’ve ever seen it, and you search in vain for any sign that she might be alive. You start to gag, dry heaving over the corpse while Karkat watches in disgust and sadness. You couldn’t care less.

You kiss her, trying desperately to revive her. Terezi screams.

“She’s god tier, you stupid shit, that won’t fucking do anything!”

You press her lips to hers over and over, refusing to hear Terezi’s furious shouts in the background. Your glowing skin is bruised from the collision of your lips onto her fangs, and pinpricks of blood well up on the broken skin of her lips. She’s still warm, and somehow that just makes everything worse, and you collapse onto your back and sob until your vision goes black and Terezi’s wordless screams, Gamzee’s honks, and Karkat’s growls can’t permeate you anymore.

 

Three years later, you jolt from your bed, yelling her name and the words _I’m sorry._ Rose’s arm finds itself on your shoulder, rubbing circles into your skin as you start crying again.

“I’m sorry.”

And a pair of black lips, ones you’ve loved for years yet ones that can’t quite make you forget, respond, “I know.”

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

**Author's Note:**

> I hate myself for this.   
> The one thing I've written since this block began and it's sad as hell.


End file.
